OXFORD, Miss. – The LSU men’s basketball team looks for another victory when it plays on the Thursday ESPN television package at Ole Miss’ Tad Smith Coliseum.
The LSU-Ole Miss game is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN and on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net.
LSU (10-18, 1-13) is coming off a 74-59 loss at Auburn in which the home Tigers hit double digit three-pointers and hit over 50 percent from the field for the game. Ole Miss (19-9, 7-7) is still looking to solidify its NCAA resume’ chances and is coming off a 76-73 win at Alabama last Saturday.
“We are winding down the stretch here,” Trent Johnson said in his Monday media session. “Going back to Auburn a little bit, I thought we got some offensive production from some people obviously in the second half. We scored 40 points. We shot the ball well. We just had a hard time like I had anticipated going in, when they are shooting it – Waller, Reed, Hargrove – they stretch you. Again, the difference was their ability to shoot the three but also whether it was man or zone, was our inability, because of our lack of quickness and lack experience in a game like that, to get out to them.
“We will go to Ole Miss and play a basketball team, which is, according to experts, on the bubble. I don’t think they are a bubble team. I think there are six teams in this league that are worthy of being in the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t have a part of the selection committee.”
The Rebels are led by junior Chris Warren, averaging 16.6 points per game and needing one trey to tie for third all-time in school history. Terrico White, who was held in check during LSU’s 73-63 loss to the Rebels in January in Baton Rouge, is averaging 14.8 points per game.
The Tigers are led by senior Tasmin Mitchell who will play his last game Saturday at home against Georgia. Mitchell is third all-time in scoring at LSU and sixth in rebounding and he comes into the game at 1,948 points, 52 short of the magical 2,000 mark which has only been reached by two LSU players (Pete Maravich and Rudy Macklin) and just 23 in the history of the SEC.
Saturday at Auburn, the team was able to find scoring in Bo Spencer (23), Storm Warren (14) and Dennis Harris (10) without Mitchell who fouled out for just the second time in his career.
“We had been in that situation before but not to that extent in time in both the first half and the second half. We had done OK, so to sustain it for a half and even late into the second half, I thought it maybe showed that we continued to get better, but then again, our inability to guard them, which is to me just not a constant effort in terms of really getting out to a guy was disappointing at times,” said Johnson.
“But, offensively, Auburn gives up their share of points, but I didn’t really see that as a problem going in if guys would shoot the ball. Basically, Bo (Spencer) shot the ball well. Dennis (Harris) shot the ball well, but there were other opportunities like Garrett (Green) in the post with a point-blank shot. All he has to do is lay it up and situations like that. Certain guys reverted back, but overall, I thought we could have done a better job defensively as a group without Tasmin in the zone because we’ve made so many strides and improvement. I don’t want to take anything away from Auburn. My goodness, Waller is a handful. He was a handful last year, and Reed is a handful.”
The Tigers close out the regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Georgia at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The pre-game senior day ceremony will begin at approximately 3:45 p.m. so fans are urged to arrive early. Tickets are on sale online at LSUsports.net.
LSU Men’s Basketball Media Session
March 1, 2010
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“We are winding down the stretch here. Going back to Auburn a little bit, I thought we got some offensive production from some people obviously in the second half. We scored 40 points. We shot the ball well. We just had a hard time like I had anticipated going in, when they are shooting it – Waller, Reed, Hargrove – they stretch you. Again, the difference was their ability to shoot the three but also whether it was man or zone, was our inability, because of our lack of quickness and lack experience in a game like that, to get out to them. We had Sunday off. The guys shoot (Monday) on their own. We will come back (Tuesday) at 7 a.m., to practice.
“Wednesday, we will have our normal day. We are going to either practice at Ole Miss or here. We have not made the decision. We will go to Ole Miss and play a basketball team, which is, according to experts, on the bubble. I don’t think they are a bubble team. I think there are six teams in this league that are worthy of being in the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t have a part of the selection committee. I say that based off a Georgia team we will play Saturday that has beaten Georgia Tech, Illinois, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida. They probably had Mississippi State beat on the road. They had South Carolina beat on the road. If they are the 10th- or 9th-place team in this league, so be it. There are six teams that are pretty good. That will be a quick turnaround for us, playing them on Saturday.
“We have a big week. Make no mistake about it. It’s going to be an emotional week because one of the best players in my mind (Tasmin Mitchell), and I wasn’t privy to see a lot of them play in person, but obviously I’ve seen a share of players play over my career as a coach, player and assistant coach, and being an historian as to how I study the game, make no mistake about it; Tasmin is probably one of the better players here when we start talking about a basketball player and not a great athlete who plays basketball or vice versa. Hopefully, we’ll get past Thursday, and a lot of people will come out and see a pretty good player play his last home game here.”
On what Tasmin Mitchell coming back to LSU this year has meant to Johnson’s ‘big picture’ scenario…
“It’s not what I’m trying to do. It’s not about what I’m trying to do or about me. The bottom line is he was in a situation where he tested the waters, and if things were good for him, he would have been gone, and that’s pretty much it. What did it benefit for him? When you work as hard as he does, and you’re as committed to the game as he is, you’re going to be a better basketball player. I feel really confident that he has a lot of basketball left to play once he leaves college. In terms of whether he was back or not, our approach based off of my leadership if he maybe was going to be the same and the thing that he’s done is just been himself. He’s led by example, led by being vocal, made plays, so hopefully the guys who have had a chance to play with him and around him and watched him play, they’ll learn something in terms of what a good player looks like and what a good leader looks like. But, in terms of what it has meant to what I’m trying to do, it has nothing to do with Trent Johnson. It’s all about LSU, the former players and the players that are currently in the program and what we are trying to accomplish, and that’s to be a good basketball program, a good basketball team that is consistently good and maximizes their ability on any given day or any given night.”
On what Mitchell did to adjust to a new coach when Johnson came in…
“Tasmin along with all of them was very receptive. I said this, and again, since we are going back to last year, there was a group of guys that were a lot better people than what I had heard or what they were given credit for. They are probably better people than players, and he was no different. You’ve heard this from me a million times, but if Tasmin Mitchell hadn’t been hurt, you guys would not be talking to me. It’s pretty simple. Again, for me it’s how he is with everybody, not just because I was a new head coach. I see how he interacts with media. I see how he interacts with other coaches, assistant coaches and head coaches. I see how he interacts with other players, and whether things are going good or bad for him, this is the measure of the quality and the character of the person. He’s been pretty much the same. I see him every day. His approach hasn’t changed.
“I was asked a question about some of the similarities between me and him, and well, I think his respect for the game and for people, his enjoyment for the game and how he comes about – just basketball because I don’t see him all the time away from basketball – is pretty consistent, whether you are winning or losing or up or down. For me, I respect that with the utmost, probably much more so than making baskets or winning games.”
On what impressed him Saturday with how the team played without Mitchell…
“We had been in that situation before but not to that extent in time in both the first half and the second half. We had done OK, so to sustain it for a half and even late into the second half, I thought it maybe showed that we continued to get better, but then again, our inability to guard them, which is to me just not a constant effort in terms of really getting out to a guy was disappointing at times. But, offensively, Auburn gives up their share of points, but I didn’t really see that as a problem going in if guys would shoot the ball. Basically, Bo (Spencer) shot the ball well. Dennis (Harris) shot the ball well, but there were other opportunities like Garrett (Green) in the post with a point-blank shot. All he has to do is lay it up and situations like that. Certain guys reverted back, but overall, I thought we could have done a better job defensively as a group without Tasmin in the zone because we’ve made so many strides and improvement. I don’t want to take anything away from Auburn. My goodness, Waller is a handful. He was a handful last year, and Reed is a handful.”